The football world is drunk on speculation. This should be good for a laugh:
Should Jets consider trading for Chiefs' Marcus Peters?
The Jets will have a busy offseason. Should that offseason include a trade for Chiefs cornerback Marcus Peters? Let's take a look at that potential situation.
WHAT COULD PETERS BRING?
He is a very talented player. There's no doubt about that. In his first three NFL seasons, he had eight, six, and five interceptions. He was a Pro Bowler in 2015 and 2016. He was a first-team All-Pro selection in 2016. He has 55 passes defended in his career, including 26 and 20 in his first two seasons. He just turned 25 years old. A lot to like about him.
DO JETS NEED HIM?
Sure, they could use a player of this caliber to fix their sputtering secondary. The Jets' top cornerback last season, Morris Claiborne, is a pending free agent. Ideally, the Jets would bring him back. Releasing underwhelming corner Buster Skrine would free up $6 million in salary cap space for the Jets. So trading for Peters could make a lot of sense, if the Jets are able to re-sign Claiborne. Skrine, in that case, would be even more expendable. Or he could go back to exclusively playing slot corner, which is his better spot anyway.
WHAT ARE CAP RAMIFICATIONS?
Peters is entering the final year of his rookie contract, but his new team could always pick up his fifth-year option for 2019. It's a low-risk move, since the option wouldn't become fully guaranteed until next offseason. Trading Peters would create $1.741 million in salary cap space for the Chiefs, who would eat $1.307 million in dead money. Peters' new team would take on his manageable salary — $1.741 million. And the new team would have Peters' contract rights through 2019, presuming his option gets picked up. So this wouldn't be a one-year rental situation. Rather, a two-year rental, if you will, with a chance to sign Peters to a long-term contract, which obviously wouldn't come cheap.
WHAT WOULD IT COST JETS?
While the cap ramifications of taking on Peters' contract aren't significant — he's a bargain at that $1.741 million salary for 2018, after all — the Jets would have to surrender a draft pick or picks. Remember, the Jets have an extra second-round pick this year, from the Sheldon Richardson/Jermaine Kearse trade that went down just before last season began. So they could perhaps use one of their two second-rounders (No. 37 or 49) to get Peters. The Chiefs might want some more draft picks. They have just five. Their highest is a late second-rounder, No. 54 overall.
WHY WOULD CHIEFS TRADE PETERS?
The Chiefs just got cornerback Kendall Fuller in the Alex Smith trade with Washington. And they signed free agent David Amerson, another corner. So that has led some to speculate about Peters being traded. If the Chiefs anticipate not being able to sign Peters long-term, they might want to get something for him now. He has more value right now than he would next offseason, entering the fifth and final year of his rookie contract, when he would essentially be a one-year rental player, as Richardson was with Seattle in 2017.
ANY RED FLAGS WITH PETERS?
He is an emotional player, which can be a good thing and a bad thing. Jets fans remember Kansas City's loss at MetLife Stadium last year. After he was penalized in that game, Peters picked up the official's flag and threw it into the stands. The Chiefs suspended him for their next game as a result of this stupid, hot-headed display. Oh, and Peters' antics after throwing the flag also included walking to the locker room, even though he wasn't ejected. He eventually returned to the sideline.
WHO ELSE COULD TRADE FOR PETERS?
One team to keep an eye on — the Browns. Remember, Cleveland just hired ex-Chiefs general manager John Dorsey for that same job. Dorsey was the Chiefs' general manager from 2013-16, so he is very familiar with Peters, since he drafted him.
SO SHOULD JETS TRADE FOR PETERS?
They should at least listen to what the Chiefs want, presuming the Chiefs make calls about Peters.
(Finally some sanity?) He is too good of a player — despite some of his flaws — for the Jets to just completely dismiss possibly trading for him. The Chiefs could always want too much for Peters. There seems little point in the Jets giving up something crazy like both second-rounders for him. But the Jets' secondary struggled last season, and the group could use a talented player like Peters ... for the right price.
http://www.nj.com/jets/index.ssf/2018/02/should_jets_consider_trading_for_marcus_peters.html